Ahead of next week’s trilogue meeting in Brussels on FuelEU Maritime, SEA-LNG, the multi-sector industry coalition established to advocate for LNG and its decarbonisation pathway for shipping, has called for a compromise by all those involved in the trilogue negotiations. To facilitate a swift agreement on this file, which is a key step on the pathway towards decarbonisation in the shipping industry, SEA-LNG would like to see an extension to the proposed target on sub-quotas for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) to cover all renewable fuels.

SEA-LNG applauds the efforts of all of those involved in the FuelEU Maritime for their efforts to reach an agreement on what is a key regulation. In particular, SEA-LNG welcomes the fact that some progress was made and preliminary agreements were reached on some key issues. On outstanding issues, including the greenhouse gas intensity limits of fuels and the inclusion of a sub-mandate for the use of hydrogen-derived synthetic fuels, SEA-LNG hopes rapid progress can be made.

On the compromise regarding sub-quotas SEA-LNG COO, Steve Esau said:

“We offer our full support to all those involved and encourage a compromise on sub-quotas, which will both aid the production of renewable marine fuel and provide legal certainty to producers for future investments.”

Steve Esau continued:

“SEA-LNG supports the European Parliament proposal to include a sub-target specific to the maritime sector, but the objectives set by the FuelEU Maritime Regulation in Article 4 is likely to be reached by different types of renewable fuels (as highlighted in Article 9) and will primarily be met by the use of biofuels and biogas until around 2035.”

He added:

“The target should therefore not be limited to RFNBOs but should apply to all renewable fuels, i.e., advanced biofuels, RFNBOs and Recycled Carbon Fuel. This will then support the use of biofuels (and biogases) as drop-in fuels in the short to medium term before RFNBOs become available at scale.”

He concluded:

“Should this be addressed, we believe that FuelEU Maritime will become a key step on the pathway towards the decarbonisation of the maritime sector.”